Smartphone-based Virtual Reality as an Immersive Tool for Teaching Marketing Concepts

Abstract

With the advent of Virtual Reality (VR) technology and the ubiquity of mobile devices, smartphone-based VR has become more affordable and accessible to business educators and millennial students. While millennials expect learning to be fun and prefer working with current technology, educators are constantly challenged to integrate new technology into the curriculum and evaluate the learning outcomes. This study examines the gain in learning effectiveness and students' intrinsic motivations that would result from the use of VR as compared to the use of traditional learning activity, namely think-pair and share. The results show that students who took part in the VR simulation demonstrated a better understanding of concepts and reported a better learning experience as compared to those who participated in the think-pair-share activity. In particular, the findings show evidence of higher intrinsic motivation and better learning outcomes.